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A few miles away from Oak Alley Plantation sits Laura Plantation, a restored historic Louisiana Creole plantation. The plantation is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River near Vacherie, Louisiana. My family and I decided to take the guided tour after we completed our Oak alley tour on a warm Saturday afternoon. We are brave! The Louisiana heat is rough but this plantation was worth the sweat.
Our guided tour began outside Laura Plantation where our tour guide, gave us some colorful information about the restoration process of Laura Plantation. Many plantations in area are restored to their original white outside exterior. Laura Plantation upon restoration the exterior exposed was a palette of various colors and to this day, the 19th-century Créole-style plantation is the most colorful of all local plantations in the area.
During our tour we entered the 1st floor of the raised house. Laura Plantation is one of 15 plantation complexes in Louisiana with complete structures in tact to this degree. The “big house” was considered prefabricated for it’s day and was designed by a salve hired to construct the home for the Duparc Family of New Orleans. Guillaume Duparc was an interesting character who was a naval veteran from the American Revolution. Because of his dedication to the revolution, President Thomas Jefferson secured the parcel of land to Duprac which sits alongside the bank of the Mississippi River.
Only a few after the completion of Laura Plantation (then known as Duparc Plantation), Duparc passed away leaving his home and remaining inheritance to his daughter, Elisabeth and Nannette Prud’homme Duparc who was the first mistress of Laura Plantation. What makes the story of Laura Plantation interesting is that the plantation from that day forward was ran by women. It was the women of this family that held the plantation together working to secure its wealth. From 1808-1891 women were mistresses of the plantation until the Waguespack family ran and lived at the plantation until 1984.
Various structures are still remaining at Laura Plantation. Aside from the “big house”, several outbuildings including six original slave quarters and a maison de reprise. The maison de reprise is a mother-in-law suite and retirement home built 500 feet away from the “big house” for Nannette Prud’homme Duparc, the first female President of the Duparc Plantation. Nannette Prud’homme Duparc is the great-grandmother Laura who is the namesake of the plantation and heir of Guillaume Duparc. are still preserved on the property. One interesting factoid is that workers continued to live in the slave cabins on Laura Plantation until 1977. Because of this, Laura Plantation has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places due to her historical relevance.
I have to admit that Laura Plantation is not only the most colorful plantation we have visited so far, but her history is just as colorful. If you are visiting the New Orleans area, please visit a local plantation. Laura Plantation was the highlight of our recent plantation tours due in part to our tour guide Lawton. Not only was our tour interesting but we laughed and he truly educated us on the culture of its time.
You can find more information about the guided tour & and the history of Laura Plantation via website. Also, In 1936, Laura Locoul Gore wrote a book called Memories of the Old Plantation Home which is an eye witness account of life on Laura Plantation and the four generations of family which ran the plantation.
Is this something your family would enjoy? Have you visited a plantation or historic home in your area?
This place looks very pretty. Definitely worth a visit. Thanks for sharing!
This place looks amazing and full of history.I would love to visit and have a tour of that place.
I would love that SO much. I love history and New Orleans has been on my bucket list of places to visit for such a long time now.
Oh, I would love to go see this! We don’t have many plantations in our area, but two of my favorite places to visit historic homes and plantations are Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC. SO. FREAKIN. AMAZING. Now I’m gonna have to go back and look at all my old pics!
I find this kind of thing fascinating. I did a tour of some plantation grounds last year, but I didn’t get to see the estate and outbuildings. I’ll remember this for my Nola trip next summer.
I love doing things like this with my children. It makes for fun field trips. I would love to live close to that and be able to see it in person.
I love plantations but not sure if there is any in our area must look. Can I come hang with you because you do so much awesome traveling.
I went to New Orleans, but never did go on the plantation tours. They do look interesting!
We don’t have plantations in my area. We did see some historic homes while visiting new Orleans back in the 80s.
I love visiting places like this. I would love to go there with my family – maybe next summer.
This is just my thing! I would love to visit and check out the historical décor. Very nice
This does sound like an interesting visit. I’d like seeing the actual plantation in person, but hearing the history behind it is what would be the most fascinating to me.
I LOVE how its rich in history! It looks like you guys had a lot of fun! Thanx for sharing!
What a beautiful place to visit. This is one of the things I love about New Orleans. The rich history that is engrained there. Thank you so much for sharing about this!
I would love to visit this place, don’t think my kids would though. They get bored very quickly
This looks like a wonderful place to visit. I have never been to New Orleans, it is on my bucket list. I love being able to have my very own tourist advisor!
I have always wanted to travel to New Orleans. It looks like a fun place and has so much history!